1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Application Toolkit (SAT) in a mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for downloading an applet of an SAT list from a toolkit management server and installing the applet in a portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the use of portable communication systems has increased dramatically. The number of users of portable communication systems has grown so much that they are effectively considered a necessity to modern people. Based on the large number of users and the market that has been created, service providers and system manufacturers are competitively developing products and services to differentiate themselves from other enterprises.
For example, certain portable terminals have been developed to include multimedia devices that are capable of providing various services in addition to the communication service. Such additional services include phonebooks, games, short messages, e-mails, MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) players, digital cameras and wireless Internet services.
In addition to the aforementioned services, portable terminals provide a function for storing a plurality of phone numbers and other necessary user information (e.g., schedules, anniversaries, memos, photos, etc.) in a separate storage medium.
Recently, a portable terminal may include a smart card, such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, etc. The smart card includes a flash memory for storing user information and various data.
More specifically, the smart card has a user certification module for storing personnel information. Moreover, the portable terminal, using the smart card, is able to send and receive the personnel information through a SIM Application Toolkit (SAT).
In general, an SAT denotes a series of commands and procedures for operating a specific service provided by a network operator to users of mobile communication terminals. An SAT service may be provided only when both the SIM and the Mobile Equipment (ME) support the SAT.
As defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 31.111 for Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) Application Toolkit (USAT) and 3GPP TS 11.14 for the SIM Application Toolkit for the Subscriber Identity Module-Mobile Equipment (SIM-ME) Interface, commands for operating the SAT include a proactive command that is sent from the SIM to the ME and an envelope command that is sent from the ME to the SIM.
The proactive command includes a Display Text, a Get Inkey, a Get Input, a More Time, a Play Tone, a Poll Interval, a Refresh, a Set Up Menu, a Select Item, a Send Short Message (SM), a Send Supplementary Service (SS), a Send Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a Set Up Call, Polling Off, a Provide Local Information, a Set Up Even List, a Perform Card Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU), a Power Off Card, a Power On Card, a Get Reader Status, a Timer Management, a Set Up Idle Mode Text, a Run At Command, a Send Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF), a Language Notification, a Launch Browser, an Open Channel, a Close Channel, a Send Data, a Get Channel Status, a Service Search, a Get Service Information, and a Declare Service.
The envelope command includes a Data Download to SIM, a Menu Selection, a Call Control by SIM, a Timer Expiration, and an Event Download.
Service providers combine such commands and transmit/receive the combined commands using a Short Message Service (SMS) to provide services. Service providers develop their own services such as connection of a call to a specific service number by the combination of the commands provided by SIM applications.
A conventional terminal may only provide a built-in SAT service implemented in advance by a service provider through an SAT for a specified service in a SIM. Accordingly, a user of the mobile communication terminal may only select an SAT menu provided in the terminal and request a specified service, such as weather information and traffic information, by sending a text message through the SAT menu or by using the calling function of the mobile communication terminal.
FIG. 1 illustrates a service screen of a conventional portable terminal.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional portable terminal requests the required information, using the SMS or the Multimedia Messaging System (MMS), and checks the result during SAT service. Then, as the portable terminal receives one channel allocation, the request of a radio resource can frequently occur.
Also, the portable terminal may receive the result information, which occurs for the SAT service, through an SMS message or MMS message. In this case, because the portable terminal terminates a mode supporting the SAT service, and changes the mode to verify the message, there is a problem in that the user is inconvenienced.
To address the above problem, a method of using an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) has been proposed. The USSD is introduced to support an operator service and transmits either information or a specific command from a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network.
In a case of the USSD, if a user inputs a stream, the portable terminal may not interpret the stream and send a corresponding data to that effect. The portable terminal then receives information from the network and displays it. It is possible for the portable terminal to send the command to network, and so the portable terminal can communicate with the GSM network using it.
However, the SAT service only supports the menu of the service provider. That is, it impossible to edit the menu, which a user of the portable terminal may want. Also, there is a problem in that the portable terminal cannot use the SAT service when moving to a roaming network. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for providing an SIM Application Toolkit in a mobile communication system.